House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and 40 other Republicans pressed FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday about why the commission approved radio broadcaster Audacy’s request for a temporary waiver of foreign-ownership requirements to complete a bankruptcy restructuring that includes George Soros-affiliated entities purchasing its stock. The FCC voted 3-2 to approve the waiver, with both Republican commissioners claiming the agency deviated from normal procedure (see 2409300046). “It is highly concerning," Rodgers and other GOP lawmakers said in a letter to Rosenworcel, "that the FCC did not follow regular order for a transaction of this magnitude.” The timing of the FCC’s approval “just before a Presidential election … seems suspect” given Soros is a “Democrat mega-donor.” Licensees  “and investors need certainty that the FCC will follow its rules and procedures when approving transactions so that the broadcast industry can have the resources it needs to continue serving the public,” the Republican lawmakers said. They seek a briefing by Oct. 18 “to understand the FCC’s process for granting waivers of the foreign ownership rule, and the decision to grant Audacy’s request, in particular.” The lawmakers in part want to know why the FCC voted on the Audacy waiver at the full commission level. Rosenworcel has said the full vote was taken because of pressure from Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2408150047). An FCC spokesperson referred us to Rosenworcel’s statement on the Audacy decision, in which she said claims that the broadcaster received special treatment are “cynical and wrong.” House Oversight Committee Republicans launched a probe of the Audacy matter in late September (see 2409270053).

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and 11 other Republican states’ attorneys general urged congressional leadership Thursday to “prioritize” the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449) before year’s end given that “many of our States continue to suffer devastating effects from Hurricane Helene” (see 2410030051). The measure would mandate that automakers include receiver technology in future electric automobiles. House Commerce approved HR-8449 in September (see 2409180047), while the Senate Commerce Committee cleared a different version (S-1669) last year. “Each of our States experience natural disasters and other public safety emergencies” and “AM radio is the constant support network that provides life-saving information to our citizens,” the AGs said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and their minority leaders. “AM radio signals travel greater distances as compared to FM, and citizens can receive information via AM radio even when phone lines, electricity, and cell phones are inoperable. In fact, during Hurricane Helene, local radio became a ‘lifeline for hard-hit North Carolina communities’ after ‘communications across the region [were] severed.’” Moody announced the legislative push during a Thursday news conference that included HR-8449 lead sponsor House Innovation Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.

President Joe Biden signed the Launch Communications Act (S-1648) Thursday night, the White House said. The measure, which the House passed earlier this month (see 2409180049), will require that the FCC streamline the authorization process for commercial launches’ access to spectrum. The Senate approved S-1648 last year. Lead sponsors Sens. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., hailed its enactment Friday. It's “a win for American innovation,” Hickenlooper said. Now “we can lead the next era of space exploration.” The U.S. “must maintain its edge in the 21st century space race against China, and this legislation is a necessary step in maintaining American space dominance,” said Schmitt, who is Senate Commerce Space Subcommittee ranking member.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., on Wednesday blocked an attempt from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to pass deepfake porn legislation by unanimous consent. Booker blocked Cruz’s UC request on the Senate floor without offering an explanation. “Object,” he said. Cruz introduced the Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (Take It Down) Act with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. (see 2406210047). The bill would establish criminal liability for individuals and entities publishing nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-created deepfake porn. Cruz said he doubted Booker’s objection was free speech-driven, given the New Jersey Democrat has supported “two bills that deal with this very same issue using the same language,” including the Shield Act. Without the Take it Down Act, victims of sextortion and fake porn have “no protection,” said Cruz. Booker in March joined Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in blocking a UC attempt on other child-online-safety-related bills (see 2403070039).

President Joe Biden signed off Thursday on a continuing resolution (HR-9747) that maintains funding for the FCC, FTC, Commerce Department agencies and all other federal entities through Dec. 20 after both chambers swiftly cleared the measure. HR-9747’s enactment averts a government shutdown that would have otherwise begun when FY 2024 funding expires Monday night. The Senate voted 78-18 for the CR Wednesday night, mirroring the House’s similarly lopsided approval earlier in the day (see 2409250036). Congress’ approval of HR-9747 gives lawmakers “more time to pass full-year funding bills by the end of this year,” Biden said Wednesday night. The Senate also approved the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-275) Wednesday night by unanimous consent. The measure, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced in late July (see 2407310048), would require that the FCC launch a rulemaking to change vetting rules for USF high-cost applicant ISPs. S-275 lead sponsor Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., hailed Senate passage of the measure. “By verifying that providers can actually deliver on the promises made to bring high-speed internet to specific areas, we can maximize the influx of broadband dollars coming to West Virginia and move toward our goal of closing the digital divide in communities of all sizes across our state,” she said: “I encourage my House colleagues to pass this important legislation quickly.”

The House voted 341-82 Wednesday to pass a continuing resolution (HR-9747) that would maintain funding through Dec. 20 for the FCC, FTC, Commerce Department agencies and all other federal entities. The resolution's passage would avert a government shutdown that would otherwise begin after FY 2024 funding expires Monday. The Senate was expected to take up the measure Wednesday night. “It would be political malpractice to shut the government down” just weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters. “I think everyone understands that.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Tuesday sent letters to Cox, Meta and Google seeking information about how Cox allegedly used “active listening” tools to monitor users’ smartphone conversations. Blackburn cited reports claiming Cox Media Group “admitted to investors that it listens to users’ smartphone microphones.” The report said that Cox in a presentation with investors, including Google and Meta, acknowledged using phone conversations to deliver targeted ads. “If this reporting is true, it confirms longstanding suspicions by many consumers that technology and media companies are violating their privacy for profit by marketing products that closely reflect key words or phrases from private conversations,” she said. Cox in a statement Wednesday said its businesses “have never listened to any conversations nor had access to anything beyond third-party aggregated, anonymized, and fully encrypted data sets that can be used for ad placement.” The reports are based on “outdated materials" for a product that CMG Local Solutions "no longer sells (although the product never listened to customers, it has long been discontinued to avoid misperception),” the company said. CMG Local Solutions, like other ad companies, offers tools that “include third-party vendor products powered by data sets sourced from users by various social media and other applications and then packaged and resold to data servicers,” said Cox. “Advertising data based on voice and other data is collected by these platforms and devices under the terms and conditions provided by those apps and accepted by their users.” The data can be sold to “third-party companies and converted into anonymized information for advertisers. This anonymized data then is resold by numerous advertising companies.” Meta said in a statement it doesn't use "your phone's microphone for ads and we've been public about this for years. We are reaching out to CMG to get them to clarify that their program is not based on Meta data."

The House voted 257-125 Monday night to approve the Senate-cleared Building Chips in America Act (S-2228), sending it to President Joe Biden's desk. S-2228 would streamline federal permitting rules for projects that the 2021 Chips for America Act funded. It would in part make the Commerce Department the lead federal agency for conducting National Environmental Policy Act reviews for Chips for America Act projects and narrow the number of projects that would require those evaluations. The Senate approved the measure in December by unanimous consent. S-2228 lead sponsors Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hailed the legislation's passage in the House. “This is a major step forward for our economy and national security,” Kelly said. “By preventing unnecessary delays in the construction of microchip manufacturing facilities, this bill will help maximize our efforts to bring this industry back to America, creating thousands of good-paying jobs and strengthening our supply chains.” Cruz called it “a crucial step in onshoring jobs and making our country less dependent on China for semiconductors critical to national defense.”

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., took GOP leaders’ criticism (see 2409190063) of Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in shaping NTIA’s $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program to the chamber floor Tuesday. Since mid-August, Thune and other GOP leaders have repeatedly pointed to Harris, the Democrats’ presidential nominee, as ultimately responsible for what they view as NTIA’s botched implementation of BEAD (see 2408130061. President Joe Biden tasked her with shepherding the broadband portion of his infrastructure spending proposal through Congress in 2021. BEAD and Harris’ “tenure as broadband czar” have “been nothing short of a disaster,” Thune said on the Senate floor. “It’s been nearly three years” since BEAD’s establishment via the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and it “has not connected a single household to the internet.” That delay is “a sad story of government inefficiency and progressivism run amok.” Thune pointed to NTIA’s decision to load “down the BEAD program with a liberal wish list of requirements that were never envisioned by Congress” as the ultimate cause. “I shudder to think what things would look like if [Harris] were in charge of the entire federal government” given what happened with BEAD.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, raised concerns Tuesday about reports that the FCC was on track to approve radio group Audacy’s request for a temporary waiver of FCC foreign-ownership rules. This would allow Audacy to complete a bankruptcy restructuring that includes George Soros-affiliated entities purchasing its stock. An FCC official confirmed that all three FCC Democrats have voted for the item, while Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington are expected to dissent (see 2409170015). The FCC’s “must-vote” clock on Audacy’s request expired last week, but the agency hadn’t announced a final decision as of Tuesday afternoon. “No decision is final until the Commission releases it, which we have not,” a spokesperson said. Lee nonetheless reacted to a New York Post report that the FCC formally adopted the request. “Soros buys 200 radio stations weeks before the election,” Lee said on X. “FCC bypasses [the] review process to approve the purchase. What could go wrong?” The order would delay the foreign-ownership rules review until after the proposed bankruptcy restructuring rather than fully bypass it, as Lee claims. FCC’s consideration of the Audacy request came up briefly during a Thursday House Oversight Committee hearing (see 2409190063). Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Carr during the hearing he’s “extremely alarmed” that the FCC potentially could approve the request. It would give Soros, “a major donor” to Democrats, “a free pass to take control of hundreds of local radio stations, flooding the airwaves with leftist propaganda,” Langworthy said.